The piece was originally conceived of for the Pacific Standard Time Public Art & Performance Festival as a live response to the legacy of the historical French artist Guy de Cointet. De Cointet made text and sculptural works that he often integrated into stage sets and props in theatrical performance pieces. He was based in Los Angeles from 1968 to 1983. I worked with a stuntman, a stutterer, a sports fanatic, a sign-language interpreter, an actor, a dancer and a child to investigate and interrogate Guy de Cointet’s work while incorporating the true story of Alex, an African Gray parrot who was the subject of a thirty-year avian language experiment. What interested me was the curious overlap in the ways that both the artist and the experiment dealt with the imprecision of language and the myriad ways it can be delivered and understood.

With Aramazd Stepanian, Beau Ray, Beck Bat, Jordan Mehciz, Lisa Reynolds, Megan Daalder & Talyan Wright.

The Blackbox, Pacific Standard Time Public Art & Performance Festival, January 2012.